Saturday, August 6, 2016

Making MHR Characters ANOHotMU:U #2: Hitman

He and Gun Runner are grimacebuddies, though.

A nice palate cleanser from the train wreck that is Gun Runner, Hitman is a tough-as-nails mercenary and assassin with a heart of steel, and manages to do so with just a handful of guns, exactly zero distracting scars and who's mostly known for a four-issue plotline that basically launched the modern notion of Frank Castle, The Punisher, as a guy who, well, punishes criminals.

Hitman (Burt Kenyon) and Castle met in Vietnam because of course they did, where Kenyone saved him from a group of Vietcong soldiers, fighting them off singlehandedly, and establishing that Castle now owed him a life at some point in the future.

After the war, the two men took very different paths. Castle had a good life, settled down his family, while Kenyon took his military skills and used them to become a, well, hitman. And a good one. Years later, Castle was once again playing catch-up with his old buddy, trying to right the wrongs of the world by killing off one criminal at a time, when Kenyon took an assignment to kill Spider-Man. After a lot of back and forth gunfire and a few explosions, it culminated with Spider-Man and Kenyon dangling from the Statue of Liberty.

Castle saved Spider-Man, and Kenyon called them even. And fell to his death.

It's a great plotline, with a good, believable villain with an understandable motive and a connection to several of the characters. It's one of my favourite Spider-Man plotlines, actually. Hitman is a pretty good threat here, but it should be kept in mind that he was always prepared with a lot of traps, escape plans and similar tomfoolery - either the Doom Pool should be a bit higher for this one, or he should get some special out of the Scene Distinctions.

Mercenary Training
Enhanced Speed 1d8
Enhanced Stamina 1d8
SFX: Double Down - Spend a die from the doom pool to reroll when using a Mercenary Training Power.
Limit: Honor Code - Increase mental stress by +1 when caused by something that requires you to violate a contract or break an oath.